A Russian soldier has reported that Ukrainian troops almost wiped out his entire unit amid heavy fighting in Kharkiv.
Anton Andreev, assigned to the fifth company of Moscow’s 1009th regiment, told Russian Telegram channel Astra that half his unit had been eliminated on the first night of fighting in Vovchansk.
He also revealed that only 12 of his 100-strong unit were left to fight as the invading forces attempted to advance and gain more territory.
He attributed the huge Russian loss to Kyiv’s powerful artillery and drone strikes.
“You walk through the street, and everything seems to be fine,” Andreev said in a video message verified by The Guardian. “But then you get caught up in a massacre.”
‘Sent to Die Like Meat’
Fighting has intensified in Kharkiv since last month when an estimated 30,000 Russian troops caught the Ukrainians off guard and quickly seized 99 square miles (159 square kilometers) of territory.
But the mission was not easy, as Andreev lamented about being sent there to die “like meat.”
He claimed that their commanders always insisted on advancing even if they were already taking huge casualties.
“They just chop us up! We are sent under machine guns, under drones in daylight, like meat. And commanders just shout ‘forward and forward,’” he said.
If confirmed, Andreev’s statement would lend weight to claims that the Russian military has been making costly mistakes on the battlefield resulting in heavy losses.
Earlier this year, a Ukrainian artillery commander said the invading forces continued to carry out large-scale “meat assaults,” in which a large number of soldiers swarm an enemy area with almost no cover.